雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第3章:思考什麼是思考(31)

Victor would say to Alan, 'Look, no one has ever been able to teach you any mathematics – perhaps you have remembered it from a previous life.' But, as Victor saw it, Alan could not believe in such a thing 'without a mathematical formula'.

維克托跟艾倫說：你看，其實沒有人能教你數學――他們只是幫你從前世的記憶中想起數學。但是維克托看到，艾倫不相信這種不能在數學上證明的事。

Victor's father, meanwhile, had thrown himself into research and work to overcome his bereavement.

這時期，維克托的父親，正全身心地投入研究，來克服中年喪子之悲痛。

Alan's work in his office was concerned with calculations required for his commission as lighting consultant to the Freemasons' new headquarters in Great Queen Street.

艾倫在他的辦公室工作，做一些複雜的計算。

Alfred Beuttell was a pioneer in the scientific measurement of illumination, and the development of a lighting code16 based on 'first principles' as part of the 'reduction of the physiology of vision to a scientific and mathematical basis'.

阿爾弗雷德.別特爾是照明測量學的開拓者。

His work for the Masons involved elaborate calculations to estimate the illumination at the floor level, in terms of the candle power of lights installed and the reflecting properties of the walls.

他爲麥森工作，計算地板和牆壁反光的分佈和強度。

Alan, who was not allowed into the Masonic building, had to work from imagination to check Mr Beuttell's figures.

艾倫沒有進入麥森公司大樓的許可，他只能根據想象，來爲別特爾先生驗算。

Alan became friendly with Mr Beuttell, who told him about his success in Monte Carlo as a young man, when he had managed to live for a month on his winnings.

艾倫和別特爾先生漸漸親密起來，他給艾倫講他年輕時在蒙特卡羅的經歷。

He showed Alan his gambling system, which Alan took back to Cambridge and studied.

他給艾倫演示他的賭博系統，艾倫回到劍橋後一直在思考它。

On 2 February 1933 he wrote back with the result of his analysis, which was that the system yielded an expected gain of exactly zero, and that accordingly Mr Beuttell's winnings had been entirely due to luck and not to skill.

1933年2月2日，艾倫寫信寄回他的分析結果，這個系統對賭博毫無幫助，別特爾先生贏錢是全憑運氣，並無技術含量。

He also sent a formula he had worked out for the illumination of the floor of a hemispheric room lit from its centre – not, admittedly, an immediately useful result, but a very neat one.

他還發了一個公式，用來計算半球形空間的地板照明情況，非常實用而且簡潔。